Delivery devices



g- 4, 1934 J. MARX 3,143,268

DELIVERY DEVICES Filed Oct. 26. 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS g- 4, 1954 l J. MARX 3,143,268

DELIVERY DEVICES Filed Oct. 26. 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Aug. 4, 1964 J, R I 3,143,268-

DELIVERY DEVICES Filed 001:. 26, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 Aug, 4, 1964 J. MARX DELIVERY DEVICES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 26. 1960 INVENTOR BY k ATTORNEY5 United States Patent pull 3,143,268 DELIVERY DEWCE Joachim Marx, Wesseling, near Cologne (Rhine), Germany, assignor to Meto-Gesellschaft Kind dc Sehne, Hirschhorn am Neckar, Germany Filed Oct. 26, 1950, Ser. No. 65,053 4 Claims. (Cl. 226-436) This application is a continuation in part of my copending application, Serial No. 507,088, filed May 9, 1955, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a dispensing or delivery device and more particularly to an apparatus for delivering strips of material from a supply roll, the strips usually being provided with adhesive on one side so as to be usable for sealing a package or the like.

In the use of adhesive tape or strips for this purpose it is sometimes required to deliver strips of predetermined length and in some instances strips of more than one length, and it is also desirable that the machine be adapted to deliver strips of random length, that is, any length desired by the operator. It is contemplated by the present invention to provide a controlling device which may serve to set the machine in operation so that it may deliver a strip of material until the operation is discontinued by the operator and also to provide control means for delivering one or more strips of varied length at the will of the operator, the length of such strips being determined by the setting of the control means.

To this end the apparatus is provided with a pair of feed rolls adapted to engage the opposite sides of a strip of material drawn from a supply roll and feed the strip forwardly toward a severing member by which the strip is cut. One of these feed rolls is driven by suitable means such as a motor, for example, while the other, Which may be termed a presser roll is arranged to be moved toward and from the driven roll in order to engage and feed the tape when the latter is engaged by the presser roll or to discontinue the feed when the presser roll is disengaged from the tape.

Control means is provided as will be hereinafter explained which may be actuated to engage and disengage the feed rolls to deliver a strip of desired length, and this length may be varied according to the setting of control cams on a control disk. Moreover, these cams are so arranged that one may be set to deliver a strip of greater or less length than the other and the apparatus may be so adjusted to be controlled by one or the other of the cams so as to deliver the strip selected for that particular cam. This control means also includes an actuating sh n-t bar which may be moved and held in a position in which the apparatus will continue to operate to dispense the tape until the operation is manually discontinued.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved tape-dispensing apparatus whereby various lengths of strip material may be dispensed.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the character described which shall be provided with a manual control by which the mechanism may be set to deliver a selected one of a plurality of strips of varied length and by which the apparatus may also be set to continuously dispense a length of tape until the operation is manually discontinued.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan View of a tape-dispensing mechanism embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational View of the forward portion of the device;

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FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view on line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a detail view of the rocker frame upon which the presser roll and knife are mounted;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the control disk, looking at the inner side thereof;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view on line 77 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a detail view of the pivoted detent employed to hold the rocker frame in predetermined position;

FIG. 9 is a similar view of the lever and pawl to control the position of the detent shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a detail view of a swinging lever employed to control the engagement of the drive shaft with the control disk;

FIG. 11 is a top plan view of the controlling shift bar;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 2 with some parts being omitted to show the mechanism behind such parts; and

PEG. 13 is a sectional view on line 1313 of FIG. 12.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is shown in the drawings a frame consisting of spaced substantially vertical side plates 14 and 11 which may be supported from a base 12 (FIGS. 1 and 3). Rockably mounted on the side plates 10 and 11 is a rocker frame comprising side bars 14 and 15, this frame being carried by pins 16 and 17 which may be secured to the bars and are rotatably mounted in the side walls so that the frame rocks about these pins.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, this frame carries a severing blade 18 by which the strips of tape are severed, the tape being shown at 19 leading from a supply roll 29 supported between the side plates. Upon the rocker frame is carried a shaft 22 upon which is rotatably mounted a presser roll 23. As shown in FIG. 3, this presser roll is adapted to cooperate with a driven roll 24 secured to a shaft 25 which may be rotated by any suitable means such as the motor 25. It is understood that the tape 19 will be fed between the presser roll 23 and the feed roll 24, as shown in FIG. 3, so that when the feed roll is driven and the presser roll is in contact with the upper surface of the tape or strip, the latter will be dispensed.

The right-hand end of the shaft 25, as shown in FIG. 3, extends freely through an opening 27 in the side plate 11 and provided on its end with teeth 28 adapted to engage the teeth of an internal gear 29 provided at the inner side of a control disk 36 secured to a shaft 31 rotatably mounted in the plate 11. It is understood that with this construction the teeth 28 upon the shaft 25 may be moved into and out of engagement with those of the internal gear 29.

The right-hand end of the shaft 25 is rotatably supported in a rocking lever 33 pivoted at 34 to the plate 11. The lever 33 has an upwardly extending arm provided With a pin 35 adapted to be engaged in a stepped slot 36 (FIG. 10) in a swinging arm 37 pivoted at 38 to the plate, and this arm is biased in a counterclockwise direction by the spring 39 (FIG. 2). This structure will be later referred to.

The rocking frame is urged in a clockwise direction about its pivots 16 and 17 by springs 49 and 41 (FIG. 1) secured at one end to the frame and at the other end to the side plates 10 and 11 respectively so that, unless held against movement, the rocking frame will be swung in position to engage the presser roller 23 with the tape. However, the frame is normally held in the position shown in FIG. 4 in which the rollers 23 and 24 are separated by a swinging detent 42 (FIGS. 7, '8 and 12) pivoted at 43 on a bracket 44 secured to the side plate 11. As shown in FIG. 8, this detent is provided with a cam edge 45 3 and a shoulder 46, the latter engaging over a lug or projection 47 secured on the adjacent bar of the rocking frame.

Also pivoted at 43 is a lever 48 provided witha recess 49 which faces inwardly toward the side plate 11. Pivoted at the lower end of this lever is a pawl 50 having a tooth 51 adapted to engage a shoulder 52 provided upon the detent 42.' This pawl 50 is urged in a clockwise direction about its pivot 53 by a spring 54, one end of which is secured to a part of the frame and the other end secured to the detent. With this construction it will be seen that, if the lever 48 is swung to the right, as shown in FIG. 7, the pawl 50 will carry the detent 42 in the same direction and release the rocker frame to permit the forward or left-hand end of this rocker frame to be swung upwardly by the springs 40, 41 and the presser roll 23 to move downwardly toward the driven roll 24. A spring 55 (FIG. 7) hearing at one end against a ing 56 secured to the bracket 44 normally urges the detent 42 toward an inner position where the rocker frame is engaged by the shoulder 46.

The lever 48 is actuated by a shift bar 58 (FIGS. 11 and 12), this member being slidably and rotatably mounted in the bracket 44 and provided at its projecting end with a handle 59 by which it may be moved longitudinally or rotated.

As shown in FIG. 11, this shift bar is provided with a cut-away portion 60 which, as shown in FIG. 7, presents a flat surface to the inner edge of the recess 49. The surface 64) tapers toward the right-hand end of the shift bar so that movement of this member to the right, as shown in FIG. 12, will cam the lever 48 outwardly to release the rocker frame. Also as the surface 60 is not only cam shaped as described but is also provided with a flat surface, rotation of the bar 58 will likewise swing the lever 42 outwardly from the position shown in FIG. 7. Therefore, either longitudinal movement or rotation of the shift bar will effect release of the rocker frame to permit the presser roller 23 to drop to its feeding position.

Also as shown in FIGS. 2 and 11 a member 62 is provided on the end of the bar 58. This member is provided with a flattened end portion 63 extending generally in a vertical plane, this member being offset with respect to the axis of the bar 58 so that the portion thereof above this axis is of greater extent than the portion below the axis. The member 62 is also provided with a beveled cam surface 64, the function of which will hereinafter appear and with an annular groove 65 within which is received the forked end of a bar 66. This bar is con nected at its lower end to a plate 67 slidably mounted on the side plate 11 and a spring 68 urges the bar 66 and the shift bar 58 toward the left, as shown in FIG. 12.

The control disk 30 is provided on its outer surface with an annular groove 70 within which groove are slidably mounted one or more lift cams 71 which project beyond the periphery of the disk and which may be adjusted to any desired position in the groove 70 and held therein by screws 72. i

As shown in FIG. 3, the end of the shaft 22 projects through an opening 75 in the frame and slidably and rotatably mounted upon the projecting end of the shaft is a hub 76 of a shift roller 77 (FIG. 3). The hub of the roller is provided with an annular groove receiving the forked end 78 of a lever 79 (FIGS. 1 and 2). This lever is pivoted at 80 between the forks 81 of a clevis secured to the pin 17 which it 'will be remembered is rotatably mounted in the side plate 11.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the left-hand end of the lever 79 is shorter than the right-hand end with respect to the pivot 89, and the left-hand end is forked, as shown at 83 and 84, to receive the member 62 on the shift bar 58.

With this construction, it will be seen that, if the shift bar is rotated about its axis, the vertically elongated member 63 will engage the member 84 and shift the roller 77 in a direction away from the side plate 11. As the portion of the member 63 above the axis of the shift bar 58 is longer than that below this axis, if the shift bar is rotated in one direction, that is in a direction to engage the upper end of the member 63 with the fork 84, the roller will be moved a greater distance. Also if the shift bar is moved to the right or inwardly along its axis, the beveled cam surface 64 will engage the fork 83 of the lever 79 and move the roller inwardly toward the side plates 11.

It will be understood that one of the earns 71 will be offset axially of the control disk 30 with respect to the other cam so that when the roller 77 is moved outwardly adjacent the outer edge of the disk, it will be engaged by one of these cams, when moved to a position intermediate the edges of the disk will engage another of the cams, and when moved inwardly by the cam surface 64 will be engaged by neither of the cams 71. Therefore, shift ing the shift roller 77 axially of the control disk will determine the length of the strip of tape to be delivered according to the setting of the cam 71 which the roller is in position to engage or will allow a random length of tape to be dispensed when the roller 77 is set to be engaged by neither of the cams. The latter position is effected by movement of the shift bar 59 longitudinally as explained and delivery of the tape will continue as long as the shift bar is held inwardly or to the right by the operator.

A pin 86 is secured to the rocker frame (FIGS. 2 and 5), which. pin extends outwardly through the opening 75 in the side plate 11 in a position to engage the spaced arms 37 and 88 on the swinging arm 37. When the rocker frame is released by the detent 42 and the rear ward end thereof swung downwardly by the springs 40 and 41, this pin will engage the lower arm 87 and swing the arm 37 in a counterclockwise direction, while when the rocker frame moves in the opposite direction, this pin will engage the arm 88 and move the arm 37 in the other direction.

The slot 36 is provided with a step S9 and a deep end portion 9% beyond this step. As shown in FIG. 2, the pinion 28 is out of engagement with the internal gear 29 of the control disk and the lever 33 is held in this posi tion by engagement of the pin 35 with the step or shoul' der 89. When the pin 86 in its downward movement, as shown in FIG. 2, strikes the arm 87 and moves the swing ing arm 37 in a counterclockwise direction, the pin 35 is formed rearwardly out of engagement with the shoulder 89 into registration with the deeper portion 90 of the slot 36. This moves the pinion 28 into engagement with the gear 29 and, as the swinging arm 37 is held downwardly by the spririg 39, the parts will remain in this position until moved therefrom.

When, however, the roller 77 is engaged by one of the cams 71, moving the adjacent end of the rocker frame upwardly, the pin 86 strikes the arm 88 and moves the swinging arm 37 in a clockwise direction. At this time the lever 33 is moved in a counterclockwise direction by a spring 91 secured at its ends to the pin 35 and to the rocker frame, moving the pin 35 into its original position engaged with the step or shoulder 89.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 12 and 13, it will be seen that -a link 93 is secured to the pin 86 on the rocker frame, wh ch link at its lower end is pivoted at 94 to a lever 95 pivoted on the axis of the control disk 30. Pivoted at 96 to the lever 95 is a pawl 97 which is provided with a pointed end 93 and carries a pin 99. The plate 67 previously referred to is provided with a laterally directed end portion 100 adapted at the proper time to engage the pin 99. This mechanism is employed to interrupt the feed of a random length of tape which is effected by longitudinal movement of the shift bar 58.

With the parts in position shown in FIG. 12 when the shift bar 58 is moved inwardly and the rocker frame released and moved into position to engage the feed rollers, the plate 67 is also moved inwardly with the shift bar.

As the rearward end of the rocker frame moves downwardly, the link 93 swings the lever 95 in a clockwise direction and moves the pin 99 into a position at the left of the turned end 190 of the plate 67. Now, when the operator releases the handle 59 of the shift bar and the spring 68 withdraws the shift bar together with the parts 66 and 67 to the left (i.e., to the rest position shown in FIG. 13), the turned end portion 190 of the plate 67 will engage the pin 99 and move the pawl 97 about its pivot 96 to engage the point 98 with the teeth of the internal gear 29 of the control disk. This will effect rotation of the lever 95 which through the link 93 and pin 86 will swing the rocker frame in a counterclockwise direction against the action of the springs 40 and 41 into position shown in FIG. 7 where the rocker frame is locked in a position to maintain the feed rollers in spaced relation. Thus the feeding of a random length, obtained by moving the shift bar longitudinally, will continue as long as the operator holds the shift bar inwardly.

When a feeding operation is determined and the lever 33 (FIG. 2) is moved by its spring 91 in a counterclockwise direction, the pinion 28 is released from the teeth 29 of the control disk (FIG. 3) and the latter is released. It is returned to its normal or rest position by a torsion spring 104 (FIG. 3), the return being limited by the engagement of a stop 105 on the inner side of the control disk (FIG. 6) .with a pin .106 (FIG. 12) mounted on the side plate 11.

When the dispenser is at rest the parts are in position shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. If a measured length of tape is to be dispensed, the shift bar 58 is rotated in one direction or the other, depending upon which of the cams 71 is desired to be engaged with the roller 77. As shown in FIG. 1 the roller is set in an intermediate position to engage the cam 71 at the left which is an intermediate position of the roller. If it is desired to feed a length determined by the setting of the other cam 71, the shift bar is rotated in the other direction, moving the roller 77 outwardly away from the side plate 11.

Rotation of the shift bar in either direction will, as shown in FIG. 7, move the lever 48 in a counterclockwise direction, thus by means of the tooth 51 on pawl 50 moving the detent 42 outwardly and releasing the projection 47 on the rocker frame from engagement with the shoulder 46 on the detent.

This will permit the rocker frame to be swung about its pivots 16 and 17 and permit the presser roller 23 to be lowered toward the driven roller 24. Downward movement of the rearward end of the rocker frame will engage the pin 86 with the lower arm 87 of the swinging arm 37, thus moving the pin 35 on the lever 33 from engagement with the shoulder 89 of the slot 36 (FIG. and swinging the lever 33 in a clockwise direction about its pivot 34 to engage the pinion 28 with the internal gear 29 of the control disk. The pin 88 is thus entrained in the deep portion 90 of the slot 36 and the lever 33 held in this position. Thus the control disk is set into rotation and the feeding of the tape is begun by engagement of the presser roller and driven roller therewith.

This feed will continue until selected cam 71 strikes the roller 77 and swings the rearward end of the rocker frame upwardly (this frame having been held in feeding position by the springs 40 and 41), thus separating the rollers 23 and 24 and discontinuing the tape feed. When the rocker frame moves upwardly, the pin 86 strikes the upper arm 88 of the arm 37 and moves it in a clockwise direction, thus permitting the spring 91 to swing the lever 33 in a counterclockwise direction and disengage the pinion 28 from the gear 29. At this time the pin 35 is caught by the shoulder 89 and the lever 33 retained in this position.

When the rocker frame is returned by one of the lift cams 71 to its initial rest or inoperative position, the projection 47 strikes the cam edge 45, swinging the detent 42 in a counterclockwise direction against the action of the spring 55 so that the rocker frame may move downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 7 where the detent will spring outwardly over the projection 47 and engage the latter with the shoulder 46. In the feeding of a random length, the shift bar is moved inwardly engaging the cam surface 64 with the fork 83, thus swinging the lever 79 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 and moving the roller 77 inwardly to a position where it will be engaged by neither of the cams 71. This action by reason of the tapering of the cam surface 60 of the shift bar will move the lever 48 as before and release the rocker frame, thus setting the feed mechanism of this action in the same manner as described above when the shift bar was rotated in one direction or another. This feed will continue until the shift bar is released when it will be moved toward the left, as shown in FIG. 12, by the spring 67 and bar 66. Movement of the bar 66 and plate 67 to the left will, as previously described, effect engagement between the pin 99 and the turned end 100 of the plate 67 to engage the pawl point 98 with the internal gear 29 and raise the rearward end of the rocker frame to discontinue the feeding action. It will be seen that the discontinuance of the feeding action is obtained in a manner similar to that previously described except that in case of the random feed the rocker frame is moved upwardly by the link 93 whereas at the end of a feed of a definite length of tape the rocker frame was moved upwardly by one of the lifting cams 71.

As the control disk is rotated against the action of the return spring 104, it is only possible for strips of a predetermined maximum length to be delivered, and it may be that when feeding a random length the operator will not release the shift bar 58 before the delivery of such length. To discontinue the feed in such event a pin 167 (FIG. 6) is provided on the inner surface of the control disk, and at the end of a substantially complete rotation of this disk the pin strikes the under surface of the lever and moves the link 93 upwardly to lift the rocker frame.

It also may occur that when feeding a random length or when feeding a predetermined length, the shift bar 58 will not be released and thus the detent 42 will be held outwardly by the tooth 51 of the pawl 50 and would, therefore, not be in position to engage the projection 47 by the shoulder 46 when the rocker frame was moved in a direction to separate the feed rolls. To this end the detent 50 may be provided with a projecting end 108 engaging below the projection 47 so that when the rocker frame is returned to its rest position, it would strike the projection 108, moving that end of the pawl 50 downwardly against the action of the spring 54 and release the detent 42 from the tooth 51 so as to permit the projection 47 to be caught beneath the shoulder 46.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A tape-dispensing mechanism comprising a frame, a feed roller rotatably mounted thereon, means for driving said roller, a bodily movable presser roller mounted on the frame and which, when in a strip-feeding position, cooperates with the feed roller to feed a strip of tape therebetween, the presser roller being spring biased toward the feed roller, releasable means to latch the presser roller in a nonfeeding position, a contol member bodily movable with the presser roller and mounted for shifting movement with respect to the last-mentioned roller in an axial direction, a control disk mounted on the frame for rotation and having on its periphery cam members circumferentially spaced apart and spaced apart axially of the disk, means operable on movement of the presser roller from the latched position to the strip-feeding position to couple said drive means to the control disk to drive the latter, and shift means movably mounted on the frame and operatively connected to said control member, said shift means including a manually operated shift bar angularly movable in either direction to selectively position the control member for cooperation with any one of said cam members and said shift bar being axially movable to shift said control member axially of the control disk to a position intermediate neighboring cam members, for dispensing a random length of tape, the selected cam member being operative to cam said control member to a position wherein the presser roller occupies said nonfeeding position and is latched, thereby rendering the drive to said disk inoperative, said shift means coacting With said latching means and being operative to release the latter when said shift member is operated to shift said control member.

2. A tape-dispensing mechanism comprising a frame, a feed roller rotatably mounted thereon, means for driving said roller, a bodily movable presser roller mounted on the frame and which, when in a strip-feeding position, cooperates with the feed roller to feed a strip of tape therebetween, the presser roller being spring biased toward the feed roller, releasable means to latch the presser roller in a nonfeeding position, a control member bodily movable with the presser roller and mounted for shifting movement with respect to the last-mentioned roller in an axial direction, a control disk mounted on the frame for rotation and having on its periphery cam members circumferentially spaced apart and spaced apart axially of the disk, means operable on movement of the presser roller from the latched position to the strip-feeding position to couple said drive means to the control disk to drive the latter, and shift means movably mounted on the frame and operatively connected to said control member, the selected cam member being operative to cam said control member to a position wherein the presser roller occupies said nonfeeding position and is latched, thereby rendering the drive to said disk inoperative, said shift member provided with a cam portion cooperating with a movable part of said latching means to release the last-named means when said shift member is operated to shift said control member.

3. A tape-dispensing mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein said shift bar has at least three cam portions thereon, each for engagement with a movable part of said latch means to release the latter, one being engage.- able with the last-mentioned part for releasing action on angular movement of said bar in one direction, another being engageable with said part on angular movement of said bar in the opposite direction, and the third being engageable with said part on axial movement of said bar.

4. A tape-dispensing mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein said shift bar has secured thereto means which on axial movement of said bar in the direction opposite the direction to actuate the control-member-shifting means engages and shifts movable means, engageable with said control disk, for restoring said presser roller to the nonfeeding and latched position thereof subsequent to the feeding of a random length of tape.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,789,818 DitZel Apr. 23, 1957 

2. A TAPE-DISPENSING MECHANISM COMPRISING A FRAME, A FEED ROLLER ROTATABLY MOUNTED THEREON, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID ROLLER, A BODILY MOVABLE PRESSER ROLLER MOUNTED ON THE FRAME AND WHICH, WHEN IN A STRIP-FEEDING POSITION, COOPERATES WITH THE FEED ROLLER TO FEED A STRIP OF TAPE THEREBETWEEN, THE PRESSER ROLLER BEING SPRING BIASED TOWARD THE FEED ROLLER, RELEASABLE MEANS TO LATCH THE PRESSER ROLLER IN A NONFEEDING POSITION, A CONTROL MEMBER BODILY MOVABLE WITH THE PRESSER ROLLER AND MOUNTED FOR SHIFTING MOVEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE LAST-MENTIONED ROLLER IN AN AXIAL DIRECTION, A CONTROL DISK MOUNTED ON THE FRAME FOR ROTATION AND HAVING ON ITS PERIPHERY CAM MEMBERS CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED APART AND SPACED APART AXIALLY OF THE DISK, MEANS OPERABLE ON MOVEMENT OF THE PRESSER ROLLER FROM THE LATCHED POSITION TO THE STRIP-FEEDING POSITION TO COUPLE SAID DRIVE MEANS TO THE CONTROL DISK TO DRIVE THE LATTER, AND SHIFT MEANS MOVABLY MOUNTED ON THE FRAME AND OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID CONTROL MEMBER, THE SELECTED CAM MEMBER BEING OPERATIVE TO CAM SAID CONTROL MEMBER TO A POSITION WHEREIN THE PRESSER ROLLER OCCUPIES SAID NONFEEDING POSITION AND IS LATCHED, THEREBY RENDERING THE DRIVE TO SAID DISK INOPERATIVE, SAID SHIFT MEMBER PROVIDED WITH A CAM PORTION COOPERATING WITH A MOVABLE PART OF SAID LATCHING MEANS TO RELEASE THE LAST-NAMED MEANS WHEN SAID SHIFT MEMBER IS OPERATED TO SHIFT SAID CONTROL MEMBER. 